I’m new to college confidential only to ask for advice for something really important. I am currently on academic probation for not putting school as my main concentration, especially last semester. I am currently a sophomore, going to go on to a junior (hopefully!). And that put me on a 1.982 GPA this Spring semester. I am really close to a 2.0 and one class that has brought me down this semester is political science because I literally cannot understand any single thing related to politics. This isn’t the problem though, I got my desired grade for that class but one of my English classes that I expected to get at least a B- on, I ended up getting a 78% since my final exam grade was a 165/200. My final exam consisted of just revision of English paperwork and writing about what you revised. Do you think my professor would change my grade from a 78% to an 80%, a whole 2% bump, if I explain to her that getting an 80% is important to me due to that I’m on probation (even though I know this is not the professor’s fault that I am on probation) ? And that if it’s possible to revise anything else to bring me up at least 11 points more on top of 165 to get a 176/200? If I get at least a 176 I will be at a solid 80%. I really want to continue attending my school, I really want to improve by this wake up call and I’m just wondering if it’s possible, even a little bit possible, that my professor would let me revise anything at all to get at least a 176/200?
Thanks.
You can ask if you want but I don’t see a professor giving you a higher grade than you earned – it would not be fair to the other students in your class.
You needed to earn the points, not ask for a break afterwards. You can ask, but the prof would have every right to say no.
If your professor gives you an opportunity to earn 11 additional points on the final she’ll have to give everyone in the class the same opportunity. That means more work for her (grading additional assignments) and revising all the grades. The registrar’s office would have to do additional work too because all the transcripts would have to be changed. That doesn’t sound fair to any of them.
Do you know why you’re failing? Your “wake up call” should have been at the end of last semester when you were first put on probation, not the end of this one. What changes did you make this semester to improve your grades? Can you take a summer course to boost your GPA?
If your alternative is getting kicked out it can’t hurt to ask but I can’t see any reason why the professor would do this for you.
Have you been going above and beyond in this class? Going to office hours all the time, sending in extra drafts for revisions etc? If this is not a situation where the prof already likes you and respects you, I wouldn’t even ask TBH. You will probably just be another one of those students that they complain about when comparing entitled end-of-semester grade bump requests with the other profs.
Ask for a review with the professor, not just for her to give you 2 points. Explain your answers, see where she marked you down, if there was a miscommunication of a point.
I’d do this with every teacher, not just the English teacher. You might be able to find a point or two in another class too.
Go ahead and ask, it can’t hurt.
But, I do think you should consider whether continuing in college is really the thing you should be doing. You are already on probation and should have been trying your best. A 2.0 GPA is a pretty low bar to achieve.
Maybe a break from college would actually do you good. Get out and work a job for a while. You may find something you like and will be good at or you’ll find the motivation to go back to college and work your tail off to get the grades. Right now it doesn’t seem to be working.
OP isn’t asking for 2 points on their final, they’re asking for 11 points. They earned 165/200 on the final, which is an 82, and want to ask the professor to give them 176/200, which is an 88. The additional 11 points would bring the overall average up 2 points from a 78 to an 80.
OP, I don’t think it’s fair to the professor for you to ask for an extra assignment to revise to try to earn an extra 11 points. They’re done grading and shouldn’t be required to do extra work. If the professor offers that opportunity to you, they’d have to offer it to every student in every section of English that they teach. That’s a lot of work to ask of a professor and college policy may not even allow it.
I agree that you need to figure out why you’re struggling. It concerns me that this is your “wake up call.” Why wasn’t being put on probation last year the wake up call? What steps did you take to improve your academics this year? If you’re dismissed and file an appeal, the college will want to know. But the steps they’re looking for won’t be asking professors to do additional work after the semester ends or for a letter grade bump on a final. You’re supposed to meet satisfactory academic progress during the regular academic year with the course work laid out in the syllabus. You can talk to your professors, but I don’t think they’re allowed to give you the kind of grade boost you need.
Of course you can ask, but I’m pretty sure the professor is going to say no.
Course expectations and grading standards are described on the course syllabus. Thus, from the beginning of the class you knew what was expected of you that could be interpreted in relation to the grade you needed to earn to continue enrollment. In addition to course affendance, you had the required books and handouts as well as the notes you took to prepare for tests and asignments. You would have had an equal opportunity to learn and demonstrate academic ccompetence as classmates. Indeed, one might hope that you earned a grade that advanced your cumulative GPA in this class or one of more other classes.
Faculty do not give extra credit, alter grades to improve your academic standing, or otherwise provide you with assistance that your classmates did not receive. Sympathy for your academic situation is not a reasonable expectation or faculty responsibility. To provide you with a few extra points is simply and fundamentally unfair to classmates and places undue pressure on faculty to save you from academic consequences
Professors don’t give points, students earn them. Is the professor’s grading criteria clearly stated on the syllabus? If it is , and there is no indication that he didn’t follow his criteria, I think that the likelihood of him changing your grade is remote.
Let me tell you, OP, that this is probably the most single irritating reason to ask for a higher grade. Professors have heard every iteration of this that exists - “I’m trying to get off probation,” “My mom will kill me,” “I’ve never gotten anything below an A/B before,” and my personal favorite, “I’m pre-med and I really need a high grade to get into medical school.”
I also would not advise asking for a full exam review with the professor, much less with every professor who has taught you. While many professors would be more than happy to help their students understand the material with a (scheduled) visit to office hours, doing it this way smacks of a bad-faith request. Especially given that you would be asking in late May after the semester is over, it doesn’t look like an earnest student trying to do better in the future; it looks like what it is: a desperate student trying to eke out a couple of points for a higher grade
Asking for a full-scale review of the entire exam is time-consuming (especially in late May) and really, really annoying for the professor. If you have a genuine concern about your grade or you really think your professor missed something in the exam, the best thing you can do is identify what you think the error is and approach the professor about that specifically, explaining why you think it was an error.
However, I will say that it’s not necessarily true that faculty don’t give extra credit, or that if they give you an opportunity to make up some points they have to give it to everyone else in the class. Professors at many colleges/universities have quite a bit of freedom and latitude to evaluate their students the way they want. It’s rather that when professors do bend the rules, it’s typically for otherwise good students with extenuating circumstances, like an illness or a death in the family or something.
My D had 2 professors send out emails to their classes, listing the reasons that @juillet does above that students have given them for raising their finals grades. Both professors were very clear that regrades would only happen due to an error in grading, period. Unfortunately, sometimes close isn’t close enough, despite our good intentions. You can ask for the grade bump, but I don’t think you should get it. You have more work to do. If that means regrouping at a community college, adjusting your priorities, and improving your study habits and your grades before jumping back onto the 4-year college wagon again, you will survive.
If I make an error in grading, I’ll be more than happy to fix it.
I record the grades that my student earn. I don’t change their scores; that would be dishonest of me.
You have to ask yourself if its fair to your other classmates for the professor to show you favor. Most professors that I’ve had would never consider it and have even stated that in their end of semester announcements. What you could do (if your school allows it) is take the course over and petition to have the grade replaced.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
This seems to be a hit-and-run posting, since this is the OP’s only post and has never returned. Regardless, since the responses have been on the same lines, I don’t think there is reason to continue to pile it on. Closing thread.